Federal complaints have been filed against the re-election
campaigns of Gov. Dave Heineman and Nebraska Attorney General Jon
Bruning.
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The Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club is calling for an
investigation of $2,500 contributions to the campaigns of Gov. Dave
Heineman and Attorney General Jon Bruning from TransCanada.

Heineman and Bruning returned the money earlier this week after
questions were raised about the legality of contributions from a
foreign corporation.

Ken Winston, lobbyist for the Sierra Club and a critic of the
Keystone XL pipeline that TransCanada wants to build through the
state, isn't ready for it to end there.

In a prepared statement, Winston said he thinks it's important
to find out if federal campaign laws were violated and he wants the
U.S. Attorney's office to undertake that mission.

"Since state elected officials were the recipients of these
contributions and federal election laws are involved," he said.
"The investigation needs to be conducted by federal officials."

Dean Dennhardt of the Heineman re-election campaign said the
candidate would have "absolutely no comment."

A spokesman for the Bruning campaign had no immediate
comment.

In follow-up remarks Thursday, Winston said campaign donations
to two of the state's top elected officials suggest there may be
some oversight opportunities on pipelines that the state has yet to
pursue.

That could include shaping eminent domain law and requiring
pipeline builders to set aside funds to cover the cost of dealing
with leaks and other potential problems.

"The governor has a considerable amount of influence, both
politically and in the legislative process," Winston said. "We
believe that state policy makers, including the governor, should
get involved in establishing various provisions to protect the
interests of Nebraskans."

Meanwhile, Jeff Rauh, spokesman for TransCanada, insisted the
company followed the law.

"The contributions were legal," Rauh said. "The contributions
were returned out of an abundance of caution."

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